DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried blames top lieutenants for FTX troubles in second day of testimony in criminal trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

The market had already dropped 70% and if it fell another 50%, he was afraid the firm would be insolvent, Bankman-Fried told the jury. In describing the swift downfall of FTX, Bankman-Fried said that customer withdrawals had quickly increased from $50 million a day to $1 billion a day. For example, Sassoon asked Bankman-Fried if he assured people that Alameda played by the same rules as others on the FTX exchange. Sassoon asked Bankman Fried, "Would you agree you know how to tell a good story?" Sassoon asked.

Persons: Sam Bankman, Fried, Kyle Mazza, FTX, Mark Cohen, Caroline Ellison, Ellison, Gary Wang, Nishad Singh, Singh, Sun, Jane Rosenberg, Renato Mariotti, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, Mariotti, Danielle Sassoon, I'm, Sassoon, Bankman, Crypto, wasn't, Bankman Fried, Vox, he's, Alameda, —, Dawn Giel Organizations: Court, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Alameda Research, Alameda, Bloomberg, Apollo, Reuters, U.S . Justice Department's Securities, Commodities, CNBC, U.S, PR Locations: New York City, Alameda, New York, U.S, Chicago

☆ Why Sam Bankman-Fried wanted to spend $10 million a year to put FTX name on sports stadium
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Prosecutors entered corroborating materials, including encrypted Signal messages and other internal documents that appear to show Bankman-Fried orchestrating the spending of FTX customer money. Similarly, Bankman-Fried testified that he believed the lavish Bahamas properties were being paid for with FTX operating cash that came from revenue and venture investments. As for the venture investments, Bankman-Fried said he thought that money was coming from Alameda's operating profits and third-party lending desks. Alameda's venture arm was renamed Clifton Bay Investments, which Bankman-Fried said was a first step in building a dedicated venture brand. When asked about loans he took from the business, Bankman-Fried said they were to pay for venture investments and political donations.

Persons: Sam Bankman, Amanda Perobelli, Fried, District Judge Lewis Kaplan, Mark Cohen, Bankman, Cohen, Sam Bankman Fried, Judge Lewis Kaplan, Elizabeth Williams, Caroline Ellison, Judge Kaplan, Jane, Banks, weren't, cryptocurrencies, FTX, Nishad Singh, Gary Wang, Singh, Wang, Prosecutors, Dan Friedberg, Fenwick, Marco Bello, Ryan Salame, Salame, Katy Perry, —, Dawn Giel Organizations: FTX, Reuters FTX, U.S, District, Stanford, Alameda Research, Elizabeth Williams Prosecutors, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Alameda, Fenwick & West, Reuters, NFL's New, NFL's New Orleans Saints, Kansas City Chiefs, Facebook, Google, Clifton Bay Investments, Republicans Locations: Manhattan, New York City, U.S, Alameda, Bahamas, Berkeley , California, FTX, Friedberg, Miami , Florida, Miami, NFL's New Orleans, Clifton Bay, Los Angeles

☆ Philadelphia's mayor says his fellow Democrats just voted for more people to die from drug overdoses. Experts say he's right.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

People should not, generally, inject into their bodies a substance they bought with cash from a stranger on the street. And many will not resort to best practices, like using a clean needle, and contract diseases that require lifelong treatment. In 2019, the former president's Department of Justice sued to stop a Philadelphia-based nonprofit, Safehouse, from opening what would have been the country's first safe injection site, citing a federal law originally aimed at crack houses. AdvertisementAdvertisementBesides, Philadelphia, a city battling not just drug addiction but poverty and gun violence, is not about to open drug treatment resorts. Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney is one of the few public officials to explicitly endorse supervised injection sites.

Persons: Philadelphians, Scott Burris, Isaiah Thomas, Thomas, Mike Driscoll, Donald Trump, Biden, Nora Volkow, Ronda, Goldfein, —, Jim Kenney, Cherelle Parker, Kenney Organizations: Service, Center of Public Health, Research, Temple University, Philadelphia Inquirer, president's Department of Justice, National Institute on Drug, New York Times, of Pennsylvania, Walmart, Philadelphia, Democratic Locations: Philadelphia, Wall, Silicon, Kensington, Vancouver, Canada, Philadelphia's, New York City, Ronda Goldfein, Europe

HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — Just playing is a small victory for Shakhtar Donetsk, though the Ukrainian champions won't stop there. The Ukrainian league restarted a year ago despite the war but all games are played in empty stadiums — and sometimes interrupted by air-raid sirens. For the second straight season, Shakhtar is playing its Champions League games outside of Ukraine because of the Russian invasion. “When we drew with England (in a national team game on Sept. 9), I really got a lot of messages from the soldiers. Despite the wealth behind Shakhtar, the club won't give up hope of returning to play in Donetsk some day, Chygrynskyy said.

Persons: —, Taras Stepanenko, ”, Stepanenko, “, Patrick van Leeuwen, “ It’s, Velyka, Dmytro Chygrynskyy, it’s, ” Chygrynskyy, hasn't, Rinat Akhmetov, Mykhailo Mudryk, Chygrynskyy, “ That’s Organizations: Shakhtar Donetsk, Associated Press, League, Porto, Shakhtar, Ukrainian, Champions League, England, AP, ” Shakhtar Locations: HAMBURG, Germany, Ukrainian, Ukraine, Hamburg, Poland, Lviv, It's, Portugal, Zaporizhzhia, Novosilka, Barcelona, Greece, Russia, Donetsk, Kyiv, Chelsea

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson gained national attention this summer when he proposed buying one-way airfare out of Alaska's largest city for anyone without housing who wanted to leave before winter. The Anchorage Assembly just approved $4 million in funds and will vote on additional elements of an emergency plan next week. Anchorage last winter had a record 24 deaths outdoors among the homeless population, with 11 fatalities occurring in the winter months between October 2022 and April 2023, said Alexis Johnson, the city's homeless director. The city recently brought four more housing facilities, which could create space for another 310 people, but is still seeking winter housing for an estimated 400 to 450 people. By renting hotel rooms, Johnson hopes to limit the capacity of a mass winter homeless shelter to no more than 150 people — one of the Assembly's stipulations when releasing the emergency funds.

Persons: Dave Bronson, —, ”, Scott Gibson, Alexis Johnson, Johnson, Felix Rivera, Rivera, Bronson, “ I’m, ” Bronson, Greg Smith, Smith Organizations: — Anchorage, Alaska's, Land Trust, Sullivan Locations: ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Alaska's, Anchorage, Cook, California, Hawaii, Anchorage’s

☆ The MGM Sphere in Las Vegas is a futuristic concert venue with the world’s biggest LED screen
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Brandon Griggs | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —It squats on the Las Vegas skyline like an enormous spaceship, black and mysterious – until night falls, when it will glow like the Earth from space. The MSG Sphere at The Venetian is pictured on March 20, 2023, in Las Vegas. The globe seats almost 18,000 people, sits one long block east of the fabled Las Vegas Strip and will be connected by a pedestrian walkway to the Venetian resort complex. But Sphere’s main draw may be as a venue for live music – especially the marquee residencies for which Vegas is known. An artist's rendering of the audience bowl inside Sphere, with undersea imagery projected on its wraparound LED screen.

Persons: It’s, ”, Bizuayehu, Rich Claffey, “ I’ve, I’ve, I’m, Darren Aronofsky, They’re, Bono, … ”, you’re, ” Claffey Organizations: CNN, Eiffel, Western, Apple, Las Vegas, Bellagio, Allegiant, ” Locations: Vegas, Las Vegas, New York City

Some Chinatown residents benefited from the development boom, selling properties to developers or drawing more customers from increased foot traffic. Some residents have shown tentative support for the luxury buildings, saying they might make the neighborhood safer or bring in wealthier Asian residents who could boost Chinatown's economy. Manhattan Chinatown's housing stock is "really aged," which has led to costly fires, according to Thomas Yu, executive director of Asian Americans for Equality. Chinatowns and the pandemicMany debates surrounding luxury development and affordable housing were accelerated by the pandemic, which shuttered hundreds of businesses across Chinatowns. However, business owners who spoke with CNBC said Chinatown's businesses, though still recovering, are keeping the city's culture alive.

☆ A sustainable planet is possible with the help of cloud tech. Here's how an Asian partnership is working toward the future.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Sponsor Post | Created Insider Studios With Tata Communications | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Alibaba Cloud, in partnership with Tata Communications, is developing digital solutions for a sustainable future. Alibaba Cloud's partnership with Tata Communications is built on a mutual understanding of the critical importance of sustainability for everyone. The partnership between Alibaba Cloud and Tata Communications has helped build a robust and elastic cloud infrastructure. "Seamless and intelligent hyperconnected ecosystems are how we power cloud giants like Alibaba Cloud to do what they do best." Together, Alibaba Cloud and Tata Communications are creating a futuristic vision for how businesses and people can live, work, and communicate.

☆ Ukraine could boycott Olympics if Russians allowed back-minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Ukraine would not rule out boycotting the Olympic Games if Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to compete in the Paris 2024 Games, its sports minister said. "Our position is unchanged: as long as there is a war in Ukraine, Russian and Belarusian athletes should not be in international competitions," Guttsait wrote on his Facebook page. "Work is currently underway on further possible steps and first steps to continue sanctions and prevent Russians and Belarusians from international competitions," he said. "If we are not heard, I do not rule out the possibility that we will boycott and refuse participation in the Olympics." Russian and Belarusian athletes have been banned in some sports while they are allowed to compete under a neutral flag in others.

☆ The Tom Brady of Other Jobs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Francesca Paris | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +17 min

Meet them, and decide for yourself:The Tom Brady of Paramedics Jesse Izaguirre, 70Gardena, Calif.Jesse Izaguirre loves working with younger paramedics. Hopefully never.”The Tom Brady of Bakers Helen Fletcher, 83Clayton, Mo. Chalk it up to a great big fib.”The Tom Brady of Artists Lilian Thomas Burwell, 95Highland Beach, Md. “I should’ve signed them.”The Tom Brady of Biologists Maria Elena Zavala, 72Los AngelesProfessional longevity runs in Maria Elena Zavala’s family. It didn’t vanish when they crossed the border.”The Tom Brady of Loggers Earl Pollock, 82Hamburg, Ark.

☆ Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried says he didn't 'try to commit fraud'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Elizabeth Napolitano | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

A growing number of regulators are investigating Bankman-Fried and his former company, and the fallout from the collapse of FTX is only expanding. The broader industry consequences also continue to play out, with the crypto firm BlockFi filing for bankruptcy last week. Days after the CoinDesk report, FTX rival Binance announced it would sell its FTX holdings, setting off a bank-run-style rush of withdrawals. What matters here are the stakeholders in FTX," Bankman-Fried said. Bankman-Fried and his associates greenlighted lavish expenditures, including $300 million for real estate purchases in the Bahamas for FTX and Alameda employees, according to filings from current FTX attorneys.

☆ Miami Fights to Break Ties With FTX, as Arena Curse Strikes Again
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Ryan Dezember | Deborah Acosta | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

It is something of a rite of passage: A once-hot company’s name is removed from a major sports arena following its sudden and—for investors, employees and others—painful demise. For FTX, that scene is playing out in south Florida along Biscayne Bay, where Miami-Dade County is pushing to end its arena naming-rights agreement with the failed cryptocurrency exchange.

☆ Ben Affleck and Matt Damon just scored $100 million from RedBird Capital. Check out 15 more private equity players making big bets on Hollywood.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Elaine Low | Claire Atkinson | Madeline Berg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Private equity firms are investing heavily in film and TV companies, even amid a possible recession. Private equity accounted for 42% of deals over the last year vs. 24% in 2018, according to PwC. RedBird Capital just invested $100 million in Ben Affeck and Matt Damon's new production company, Artists Equity. And earlier that month, Swedish firm EQT invested in UTA, which makes the private equity player the largest outside shareholder of the talent agency. Insider's second annual list of the top private equity players in Hollywood highlights 16 firms, based on our reporting and conversations with investors and insiders.

☆ Electric-vehicle charging stations could use as much power as a small town by 2035 — and the grid isn't ready
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A new study suggests that by 2035 some stations will need to provide as much power as a small town. As soon as 2030, a typical charging station's peak energy usage could rival that of a sports arena. By 2035, a larger installation serving both passenger cars and trucks could need to provide 19 megawatts of peak power, National Grid projects, roughly what a small town uses. Today's charging and gas stations aren't equipped to provide nearly the amount of power that National Grid expects will be needed by 2030, much less 2045. But building out charging infrastructure takes time, and it pays to get ahead of the curve, National Grid said.

☆ Adele reminds us how Vegas made artist residencies cool
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Caryn Rose | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

After being abruptly postponed in January, Adele’s Las Vegas residency, “Weekends With Adele,” made its debut at Caesar’s Palace on Friday. But Adele highlights how it’s been transformed into an artistic achievement, why it’s never going away and reminds us how Las Vegas made residencies cool. This isn’t a complete list because a Las Vegas residency is no longer necessarily out of the ordinary. Does this all mean a Vegas residency is the right fit for everyone? In the shifting economic climate and post-pandemic realities, a Vegas residency may be more appealing to artists whowouldn’t normally consider it.

The opening ceremony in a tent-shaped stadium will be held at 1440 GMT, ahead of the first match between hosts Qatar and Ecuador. Few details were available on heads of state attending, but state media said the U.N. secretary general and Algeria's president arrived on Saturday. The smallest nation to hold soccer's biggest global event, Qatar, a wealthy gas producer, aims to bolster its credentials as a global player, display strength to rivals in the region and placate conservative Sunni Muslim Qataris. Many of the migrant workers who toiled to prepare Qatar's tournament infrastructure will watch from the sidelines, priced out of the stadiums. "When we came in it was like a bit of a work site," England fan Neil Gahan said in an area in Doha housing fan portacabins.

☆ Special Report: FTX's Bankman-Fried begged for a rescue even as he revealed huge holes in firm's books
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Angus Berwick Anirban Sen Elizabeth Howcroft Lawrence Delevingne | Angus Berwick | Anirban Sen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +22 min

Sequoia was shocked at the amount of money Bankman-Fried needed to save FTX, according to the sources, while Apollo first asked for more information, only to later decline. The booklet flagged the risks of crypto trading, particularly how sudden sales of tokens could trigger a "domino effect" that would lead to a "cascading set of liquidity failures." Using profits from Alameda, Bankman-Fried launched FTX in 2019. From almost nothing in 2019, FTX handled about 10% of global crypto trading this year, a September document shows. At one point, he lived in a penthouse overlooking the Caribbean, valued at almost $40 million, according to two people who worked with FTX.

☆ The Stadium Branding Curse Hits Miami Heat’s FTX Arena
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Joseph De Avila | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The FTX Arena, home of the Miami Heat, has become the latest sports arena hit with the naming-rights curse. Cryptocurrency platform FTX filed for bankruptcy protection Friday, joining a list of once high-flying companies that ran into financial trouble after signing naming-rights deals for stadiums and arenas. FTX plunged into financial turmoil over the course of a week, leading to the resignation of Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried . The company said it would begin a process to review and monetize assets for stakeholders.

☆ 'Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me' review: Gomez opens up about her mental-health struggles in an Apple TV+ documentary
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Review Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

It’s easy to downplay the courage it takes for celebrities to let down their guard and acknowledge their frailties or fallibility, revealing a side of herself the public doesn’t always see. That alone makes the message significant – a point underscored by the jetsetter parts of Gomez’s life on display here – and if it helps one person, more power to her. Still, if Gomez chafes, understandably, at feeling like “a product,” “My Mind & Me” doesn’t escape the notion that it’s leveraging that fame, and the product-like part of her existence, in order to sell it. “Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me” premieres November 4 on Apple TV+. Disclosure: My wife works for a unit of Apple.

Organizations: & +

☆ EXCLUSIVE Short-video company Triller launches metaverse platform
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Dawn Chmielewski | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Oct 17 (Reuters) - Short-video platform Triller Inc is the latest company to stake its claim in the metaverse with the launch Monday of a new platform called Metaverz. The virtual performance is one of 2,000 events Triller and its subsidiaries plan to host in the next year, a majority of which will happen in the real world and in Metaverz. The Triller video sharing app launched in its current form in October 2019, and has looked to take on larger rival TikTok. Triller recently raised $310 million from Global Emerging Markets, a Luxembourg-based private investment group, in anticipation of going public as soon as next month. Triller CEO Mahi de Silva said the company is losing money, but expects to cross into profitability by 2023.

☆ 'Top Gun: Maverick' studio Skydance just scored a $400 million funding led by KKR. Meet 16 private equity players betting big on Hollywood now.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Elaine Low | Claire Atkinson | Madeline Berg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Private equity firms are investing more deeply in film and TV content companies, even amid a possible recession. Private equity accounted for 42% of deals over the last year vs. 24% in 2018, according to PwC. KKR just led a $400 million funding round for Skydance, giving the "Top Gun: Maverick" studio a $4 billion valuation. And earlier in July, Swedish firm EQT invested in UTA, which makes the private equity player the largest outside shareholder of the talent agency. And KKR is continuing to make big bets: It just led a $400 million funding round in "Top Gun: Maverick" studio Skydance that sent the production company's valuation north of $4 billion.

☆ This 31-year-old woman with Down syndrome launched a cookie company 5 years ago — and has already made over $1.2 million
▼ + stars: | 2022-01-06 | by ( Cory Stieg | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The process felt daunting, so her mother, Rosemary Alfredo, decided to teach her the basics of getting a small business up and running. Collettey's Cookies is also profitable, the company says — no small feat in a daunting food industry. As of Monday, Collettey's Cookies has more than 40,000 followers on Facebook, and another 28,000-plus on Instagram. According to the company: DiVitto's chocolate chip cinnamon cookie — called "The Amazing Cookie" — remains the most popular of the company's five flavor options. Paying it forward to aspiring entrepreneursWhen it comes to developing recipes and baking the cookies, DiVitto is the expert and authority.

Persons: Collete DiVitto, DiVitto —, Rosemary Alfredo, DiVitto, Alfredo, Alfredo's, —, She's, Collettey's, Nadya Rousseau, Rousseau Organizations: Clemson University, CNBC, U.S . Bureau of Labor Statistics, Entrepreneurship, Facebook, Alter New Media, Collettey's Locations: Boston, Charlestown , Massachusetts, United States, DiVitto's

Search resuls for: "Sports Arena"

22 mentions found